Visionary sci-fi writer uses metric
The late Arthur C Clarke who died this month (March 2008) wrote what may be regarded as his most memorable non-fiction article in 1945. He was the first person to propose the use of satellites in geostationary orbit to form part of a global communications network.
http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/1945ww_oct_305-308.html
It was quite fitting that his orbital calculations and other details were entirely in metric in recognition of the future as seen from early post-war England.
It was a pity that in later years he became a victim of the failure of Britain and America to change over and leave non-metric in the past, which left him having to accommodate the measurement muddle in his writing.
“Even in this metric age it was still known as the thousand foot telescope, not the 300 metre one …” (from 2010 Odyssey two).
UKMA pays tribute to a man who was one of the most far-sighted people of the twentieth century who clearly recognised the value of the metric system in his work.